People are increasingly using computing devices to access information of a variety of types, including to access information over networks from remote devices and services (e.g., over the Internet and/or private networks, such as communications networks of cellular telephone service providers). One example of information that is often accessed and used includes various types of location-related information, such as maps. In addition, many users of computing devices may desire to search for or otherwise locate various types of information in a geographic area near the user, including based on a particular location of the user (e.g., to search for pizza restaurants within a specified distance of my current location)—in some circumstances, such activities may be referred to as “local search” or more generally as location-based information access. Users may use a variety of types of computing devices when accessing information, including both fixed-location computing devices (e.g., desktop computers) and mobile computing devices (e.g., laptop computers; handheld computers and/or communications devices, including cellular telephones with data communication capabilities; vehicle-based devices; etc.).
The availability of such location-based information provides a variety of benefits if the information is accurate, including the ability to provide the information to users who desire the information. However, various problems exist with current techniques for obtaining and providing such information. As one example, while some databases exist that have some location information for some types of businesses, it is typically difficult to obtain sufficiently accurate location information of a desired type for many points of interest. Furthermore, such location databases may not have any location information for a variety of types of points of interest.